Mistral Help - Life Cycle Testing

Life Cycle Testing

Life Cycle Test Mode

Life Cycle Testing allows you to log the resistance characteristics for multiple switch cycles (press and release). In order to perform life cycle testing you must be in the Life Cycle Test mode. Select "Life Cycle Test" from the "File" menu. Note that switch bounce measurement can not be done during Life Cycle Testing.

Starting Life Cycle Testing

Each life cycle test has an associated job number, lot number, operator (the person doing the testing) and number of switch cycles required.

To begin a life cycle testing, open a Keypad File while in Life Cycle Test mode. To open a file double click on the file name in the file browser on the left of the main window or select "Open..." from the "File" menu.

If a file is already open, be sure "Life Cycle Test" is checked in the "File" menu.

With a Keypad File open, click the "Start Life Cycle Test" button. The Life Cycle Test Info window, where you enter information about the test you are about to begin, will open.

Job Number, Lot Number and Operator: These fields are saved as part of the test logs. The Job and Lot Numbers are also used as the default file names for logs.
Number of Cycles Required: Entering a number will allow the Mistral to notify the operator when a switch has been cycled the required number of times. You will also be able to see how much disk space is required for each switch tested.
Comment Labels and Comments: These fields allow you to enter comments that will appear in the job logs. These fields are also saved in the Keypad File when a job is completed so they will be there the next time you open the file for testing. Use the label to identify what is in the comment field or to prompt the operator for information to enter in the comment before testing. If you leave both the label and the comment blank, these fields will not appear in the job logs.

When you have finished with the Life Cycle Test Info window click "OK" to begin the job or "Cancel" to stop.

Life Cycle Testing Switches

To begin life cycle testing a part, connect a Keypad to the pod and click "Test Life Cycle Keypad".

The Mistral begins by performing the normal Keypad test sequence. First the Mistral scans for shorts between all points used by the Keypad File, including any isolation points. The right LED on the front panel of the pod will turn red while this scan is being done. If a short is the pod emits a warbling sound and the error is displayed.

After looking for shorts the Mistral checks permanent connections. If a permanent connection is good, the connection's item turns green. If it is bad the item turns red and the pod emits a warbling sound.

Once the permanent connections have been tested the Mistral looks for LED's. If LED's are found they are illuminated one at a time or in sequence depending on the "LED Test Mode" setting (see Edit Info window for more information). You will be prompted to click on the LED item to confirm it is lit. Warning: If the file contains any series LED items, the operator MUST confirm that the LED's illuminate since the Mistral may not be able to test them electrically. If an LED is not found or installed backwards, the corresponding LED item will turn red and the pod emits a warbling sound. Good LED items will turn green. Tip: You can press the space bar to confirm an LED is on.

After completing any LED tests, the right LED on the front panel of the pod will turn orange. The Mistral is now ready to begin life cycle testing the switches.

Each time a switch on the Keypad is pressed the pod will beep. On the PC screen the corresponding switch item will turn yellow (or red) and the switch resistance will be displayed. The resistance is also saved for use in the Life Cycle Test Log (see below).

When a switch is released the corresponding switch item will turn green if the switch is good, red if there was a problem during this switch cycle or orange if there was a problem during any previous switch cycle. If the switch resistance after it is released is less than the minimum isolation resistance specified in the Keypad file's Edit Info window, the switch item will turn red and the release resistance will be displayed and saved for use in the Life Cycle Test Log (see below).

To find out why an item is red, position the mouse pointer over it. A box will pop up telling you what the problem was.

After a switch cycle (press and release) a small window will pop up beside the switch indicating the number of times the switch has been pressed, the number of times it was bad (down resistance too high or release resistance too low) and the minimum, maximum and average resistance. Note the minimum, maximum and average resistance includes all switch presses, including those where the resistance was greater than the maximum specified in the item properties.

If the Number of Cycles Required was entered in the Life Cycle Test Info window at the start of the test, the word "Done" will appear at the bottom of the pop up window after the required number of cycles have been completed.

Finishing The Test And Logging The Results

When you are finished testing click on the "End Life Cycle Test" button.

If you have pressed at least one switch, you will be asked to select the Life Cycle Test Log File format. You can create a file containing resistance information for each switch cycle or one with an average for every so many cycles.

All Data (.txt)

This log format contains the information entered in the Life Cycle Test Info, a summary of the information for each switch on the Keypad and the resistance information for each switch cycle. The resistance information is saved in a tab delimited format.

Average every X cycles (.xls)

This format also contains the information entered in the Life Cycle Test Info, a summary of the information for each switch on the Keypad and detailed resistance information for each switch. To reduce file size however, you can set the number of cycles to average for each row of data in the resulting file. For example if you select "Average every 10 cycles", switch cycles 1 through 10 will be averaged and the result will appear in the first row.

If an error occurred during a group of cycles that would normally be averaged (such as cycles 1 through 10 in the example above), only the error (or worst error if more than one) will be saved for that row, not the average. This way no error information will be lost.

The averaged resistances are saved in a tab delimited format for easy importing into a spreadsheet program such as Excel.

Select the format(s) you would like and click "OK" or click "Cancel" if you don't want to create a Job Log File at this time.

If you clicked "OK" and selected one of the file formats, you will be prompted to enter a name for each Job Log File. Enter a name and click "Ok" or click "Cancel" if you do not want a log file for the Job.

As long as the Keypad File used for the job has not been closed and a new Job has not been started, you can create a Job Log File for the last job. To do this select "Save Last Job Log As..." from the "File" menu. You will again be prompted for the Job Log File format and file name(s).

Even if you choose not to create a Jog Log file, a brief summary of the test is always added to the file LOG.TXT located in the directory where the program was installed.

Using Automation For Life Cycle Testing

Life cycle testing can be automated using a digital input/output card as described in Automation. Perhaps the simplest method is to check "Mistral controls switch press/release timing" in the Mistral Options window and leave "Retry failed switches" unchecked. In the Keypad File's Edit Info window make sure "Switches must be pressed in sequence" is not checked. The "Next Switch Down" output can then be used to activate hardware to press a switch or switches repeatedly.

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